RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

Page: << < prev 34 35 [36] 37 38 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/9/2019 8:19:57 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

18 Feb 43 - Part One - Marshall Islands

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1051

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/9/2019 9:13:16 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

18 Feb 43 - Part Two - North of Australia

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1052

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/9/2019 11:20:16 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

18 Feb 3 - Part Three - Burma

Chinese advance west towards Burma. Didn't see the river crossing but it worked out.

Ground combat at 64,45 (near Paoshan)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 15617 troops, 90 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 474

Defending force 1254 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 43

Allied adjusted assault: 363

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 19 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
798 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
243 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
1st New Chinese Corps
21st Group Army
22nd Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
II./143rd Infantry Battalion

I'm really liking the activity in 3 separate areas: the Marshall Islands, north of Australia, and Burma. KB will show up somewhere and may affect landings north of Australia, or in the Marshalls, but there's no stopping what's happening in Burma.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1053

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/10/2019 12:31:32 PM

Lowpe

Posts: 22133
Joined: 2/25/2013
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog

I'm really liking the activity in 3 separate areas: the Marshall Islands, north of Australia, and Burma. KB will show up somewhere and may affect landings north of Australia, or in the Marshalls, but there's no stopping what's happening in Burma.

Well done

, very hard for Japan to counter. They should be planning a a Bangkok defenses and stout lower SRA defense with KB, while ceding the Marshalls and developing Wake and thinking about building up the Marianas.

You might be in a position to grab the Marianas very early, or to push on into the Mindanao area.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1054

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/10/2019 3:46:39 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

Thanks Lowpe.

OPilot has been watching the Allied troops just south of Moulmein, seeing if they are headed to Tavoy or Bangkok. That has to be a concern. The troops aren't moving though. They are the defensive line.

I expect KB near Timor soon, if they don't go back to Burma after realizing that the Allied carriers have left. Timor is built up, with Koepang very large and Dili and Lautem with size 4 airfields.

I do already have Wake, having taken it back months ago. The Mariannas are possible. So is Truk, after Ponape. I do have a division prepping for Kavieng, so a landing there and Manus would just about cut off all of the enemy in the Solomons and southern New Guinea. I do like that idea.

I also like the idea of the Chinese corp in Burma clearing the path back to the homeland.

(in reply to Lowpe)

Post #: 1055

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/11/2019 1:39:29 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

19 Feb 43

Near Tawi Tawi, Tarpon spotted a convoy of small tankers. We've seen these guys before. Today Tarpon fired 4 torpedoes at tanker Azuma Maru #2. Two hit, and one was a dud. Heavy damage was reported but no fires. Sinking audio was heard immediately after the combat.

Repulse, Cornwall and Dorsetshire and 4 destroyers bombarded Port Blair. Minor base damage and 287 casualties, including a fair number of destroyed non-combat squads. Many B-25 squadrons then hit the base, hitting absolutely nothing in thunderstorms.

An armor unit started to unload at Kusaie Island. About half of the unit unloaded.

US bombers hit Babar in preparation for the landing.

2 Allied divisions attacked at Magwe.

Ground combat at Magwe (57,47)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 26215 troops, 433 guns, 272 vehicles, Assault Value = 800

Defending force 14083 troops, 98 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 368

Allied adjusted assault: 695

Japanese adjusted defense: 671

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
fatigue(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
906 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
261 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
2nd British Division
XXXIII Indian Corps

Defending units:
38th Division
19th Army

A good result. The attack will continue, with more heavy bombing.

Then another attempt at Port Blair.

Ground combat at Port Blair (46,58)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 14551 troops, 208 guns, 100 vehicles, Assault Value = 338

Defending force 6285 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 119

Allied adjusted assault: 278

Japanese adjusted defense: 195

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
299 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1236 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 127 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Assaulting units:
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
17th Australian Brigade
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
111th LRP Brigade
111th LRP Bde /2
2/1st Lt AA Regiment
111th RN Base Force
112th RN Base Force
276th Coastal Artillery Battalion
16th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
1st Raiding Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
303rd Ship Eng Coy
1st Base Force
302nd Ship Eng Coy
5th JAAF AF Coy

Good odds, reduced the forts, but bad results. This ends the attack until more reinforcements are brought in. The two US regiments are wrecked. The Australian brigade is in decent shape. Another Australian brigade is starting to load at Calcutta on fast transports, heading to Port Blair. A heavy cruiser force will bombard Port Blair today, and head to Rangoon to rearm. And repeat. Cruisers with Repulse break off to to head to Rangoon. Repulse heads to Colombo. Port Blair has been quite a battle. I just haven't brought enough forces to do the job. I'll fix that, eventually.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1056

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/11/2019 9:12:59 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

20 Feb 43 - Part One - The Marshalls

Most of the rest of the armor unit landed at Kusaie Island. Got a good bombardment.

Night Naval bombardment of Kusaie Island at 125,118

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
BB California
CL Adelaide
DD MacDonough
DD Porter
DD Lang
DD Wilson
DD Gillespie

Japanese ground losses:
727 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 10
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 1

But at a cost.

Sub attack near Kusaie Island at 125,118

Japanese Ships
SS RO-64, hits 4

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
CL Adelaide
DD Lang
DD MacDonough
DD Porter

SS RO-64 launches 6 torpedoes at BB New Mexico

And the cost increases later in the day.

Sub attack near Kusaie Island at 125,120

Japanese Ships
SS I-18, hits 1

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage (there was a dud hit also)
CL Adelaide

SS I-18 launches 8 torpedoes at BB New Mexico

New Mexico is now SYS 36/FLOT 72-50/ENG 17-9/FIRE 0, and can move just a hex a day, if that. Not considering the many enemy subs in the area, the odds of getting back to Nauru are about 50-50. With so many subs, and such limited ship movement, the odds of New Mexico surviving are slim. But, as always, we shall try. The slow US battleships are helpful in bombardments, but for me, they are excellent torpedo magnets. Time to save this one.

US troops attack on Kusaie Island.

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10299 troops, 203 guns, 186 vehicles, Assault Value = 316

Defending force 8793 troops, 67 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 118

Allied adjusted assault: 114

Japanese adjusted defense: 113

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1173 casualties reported
Squads: 49 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
37th Infantry Division
767th Tank Bn /1
5th US Naval Construction Battalion
1/542nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
214th Coast AA Regiment
2nd Base Maint Engineer Battalion
10th US Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
Guards Mixed Brigade
Sasebo 6th SNLF
7th Naval Construction Battalion
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
48th JNAF AF Unit
54th JNAF AF Unit

We barely got 1 to 1 odds, but the forts were reduced to 0, and the casualty count was most encouraging. The condition of the troops is still good, so we attack again today. Maybe we can take this place. For the second time. It would be very useful to capture Kusaie now. The armada for the Ponape invasion is leaving Tabiteuea today. Some naval search and maybe some bomber support would help there.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1057

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/11/2019 11:30:12 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

Tough luck on BB New Mexico, but I like your efforts to save heavily damaged ships. It gives a dramatic "game within a game" and when it succeeds the satisfaction is palpable.

I will be very surprised if your next attack does not take Kusaie Island. He lost half his AV last attack and forts have been flattened. Only a truly nuclear bombardment by his BBs can set you back now.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1058

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/12/2019 12:01:29 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

20 Feb 43 - Part Two - Babar

Dutch sub KXVII fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Makinami near Bima, east of Timor. It's highly unlikely that Makinami is on ASW duty out there. It's an escort. I don't know if it's part of a routine convoy or part of KB. I know that I've seen Makinami mentioned not too long ago, but I just don't remember where.

US troops start to unload at Babar. At Babar, I-123 is spotted. The sub takes many near misses but no direct depth charge hits.

In the morning, 23 Bettys with 18 Oscars appear over the transports at Babar. The ships are covered by 60 Wildcats, on ranged CAP (1 hex) from the carriers to the east. Lots of Oscars are downed, but the Wildcats barely get to the bombers, downing just one Betty. 22 Bettys drop torpedoes.

Allied Ships
xAP Samuel Adams, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Takliwa, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK American, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Case
xAK Ohioan, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Khedive Ismail, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Then 27 Lilys appear with 18 Oscars. 47 Wildcats are protecting. Again, the Oscars are hit hard, but they keep the Wildcats generally away from the bombers. 3 Lilys are downed. 25 Lilys drop 100kg bombs.

Allied Ships
xAP Zealandia, Bomb hits 1
xAP Tairea, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Smith, Bomb hits 1
xAP Rufus King, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires
DD Shaw, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Pennsylvanian, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
101 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 26 (12 destroyed, 14 disabled)

I was disappointed with the Wildcats. On paper, they did well. 26 Oscars, 3 Lilys and 1 Betty downed, for no loss of their own. But they didn't stop the bombers. 2 xAKs have sunk. 5 ships are badly damaged. 3 of them can only move one hex, and the other 2 that can move 4 hexes have the worst fires and will probably sink. I decide to keep the 5 ships at Babar unloading, with no escort and no fighter protection. I think it's more important to get as many of troops unloaded as compared to trying to save badly damaged transports. These are xAPs, not APs. Every loss hurts but not as much. I'm moving the rest of the transports, still partially loaded, back to Darwin with the carriers. I'll get the rest of the troops to Babar eventually, in smaller ships.

So the Babar invasion didn't go well. I'd be encouraged if I were OPilot, and move as many fighters and bombers to the area today, and go for anything afloat in the area. The Wildcat CAP was not overwhelming. The enemy did well with 2 strikes that weren't all that sizable. Imagine if there were another 80 or 100 Bettys. And there have been that many at Truk, so they could be on Timor in a day. Combine that with a sneaking suspicion that KB could be coming, and the carriers, not just the transports, are at risk. So we'll pull back for now and return soon.

I have enough troops and supply on Babar that they will hold their ground.

This shows to some extent that it isn't 1944, it's still early 1943. I've been landing in various places, seemingly doing whatever I wanted, but the Allies don't have a big advantage yet. If OPilot can combine sizable land based air power with KB, he can gain a local advantage over all of my big carriers. In 2 months, things change some, when the Wildcats start getting replaced with Hellcats. Another couple of months after that, the Essex class carriers start arriving.

Now isn't the time to push my luck. I think sitting right next to Babar right now might be pushing my luck. We'll regroup at Darwin and probably return to Babar soon, on some unpredictable day instead of today. It didn't help that I was using xAPs instead of APs. With APs, all of the troops would have unloaded and there wouldn't be an issue of staying. But the APs are in the Marshalls, on the way to Ponape now.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 1059

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/12/2019 3:02:02 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

20 Feb 43 - Part Three - Burma and Elsewhere

Grayback hit xAK Huzikawa Maru with a torpedo near Kunashiri.

British cruisers bombard Port Blair, causing limited base damage and 220 casualties. Some squads are destroyed. The enemy is in bad shape there. Unfortunately, so are the Allies.

Halibut spotted a big transport convoy south of Hong Kong, but missed a juicy big target, xAP Atsuta Maru, with 2 torpedoes. In a related note, 14 Liberator IIs will fly from Ledo to Hong Kong for the first time today, bombing the port. Let's roll the dice that there's something there worth hitting. Worst case, there's nothing there and we show the enemy that rear areas need to be guarded too.

The usual Chinese bombing. There's some enemy movement noted north of Changsha. Looks like some probing about to happen in a couple of places in the line.

Moulmein is bombed, with heavy escort and a Tojo sweep. No CAP. Some Catalinas were damaged and a Hudson was destroyed. Moderate base damage.

Lots of Allied bombing of enemy troops in the clear terrain in the central plain of Burma. This will be the case every day. Magwe is hit hard today, in preparation for an attack later in the day.

Ground combat at Magwe (57,47)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 26043 troops, 433 guns, 272 vehicles, Assault Value = 774

Defending force 12770 troops, 98 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 279

Allied adjusted assault: 1426

Japanese adjusted defense: 65

Allied assault odds: 21 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Magwe !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2189 casualties reported
Squads: 117 destroyed, 79 disabled
Non Combat: 215 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 61 (61 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 75 (75 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
142 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
2nd British Division
XXXIII Indian Corps

Defending units:
38th Division
19th Army

A resounding victory, and the 38th Division is trashed. The oil and refinery at Magwe is captured without any damage. Not that important, but the refinery at Rangoon was completely damaged, so now there will be some fuel drawn to Rangoon automatically.

It remains to be seen what becomes of the big stack of units fleeing Akyab. They are about to start popping out of the jungle northwest of Magwe. Supply has to be a problem for the enemy, so I'm not too concerned about counter-attacks. I think most enemy units will flee east, across the plains, and then head southeast towards Thailand. I don't have the troops to stop this movement, but my advance north is pushing more of the movement off of the roads, delaying the escape.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1060

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/13/2019 6:18:36 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

21 Feb 43

Troops continued to unload off of burning and sinking ships at Babar. There was no interference by air or sea, so a good number of troops got to land. Several ships sank, though, and there's just two left unloading. They'll sink soon too, so they stay, and will continue to try to unload troops. A fair number of troops and tanks have been lost. An attack may still be possible, though, except for the fact that the partial division has no supplies. A task force of xAKLs will return to Babar today to unload supply. The mostly undamaged transport made it to near Darwin. The few damaged ships, with men, will continue to Darwin and unload. The undamaged transports will head back towards Babar, and will stop one hex from the island. The carriers will cover the move back to Babar. I hope to be able to unload these xAPs and get some support and artillery devices there for the division. A minefield at Babar was detected but not run into.

British cruisers Cornwall and Dorsetshire bombarded Tavoy, doing excellent work on the runway, damaging 17 Sallys and causing 414 casualties.

I got ambushed a bit in Burma. OPilot moved 2 Oscar squadrons into Burma. I've been bombing just about everything that moves in the open, and rarely sweeping. He downed 8 B-25s and 7 B-26s. He's been playing a shell game with the Oscars, basing them at any of his bases, including size 1 airfields. Most days, the Oscars aren't in Burma at all. Then they appear, unpredictably. He's done well with this strategy. I don't have the planes to cover every hex, and don't want to. I also don't want to just hit one or two targets, with protection, a day. I want to slow the exodus of units across the Burma plain. I'm doing lots of damage to his ground units, but today it was at a cost.

13 Liberator IIs flew from Chungking to Hong Kong and bombed the port. They hit nothing in thunderstorms.

Here's the order of battle on Babar. I think an attack is possible after a bit of reinforcement and landing of supply. Over half of Americal's combat squads are there, but only a handful of the other devices.

Ground combat at Babar (76,117)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1982 troops, 33 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 95

Defending force 2789 troops, 39 guns, 25 vehicles, Assault Value = 215

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
1st Engineer Co
16th Naval Guard Unit
61st JNAF AF Unit
7th Port Unit
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
44th Field Const Co
4th Field Construction Battalion
106th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
Americal Infantry Division
754th Tank Bn /1
97th Field Artillery Battalion
154th FA Bn /1

US attack on Kusaie barely misses 1 to 1 odds but the casualties are incredibly lopsided. Disruption is getting high, especially with the tank unit, but with those casualties, and so many squads destroyed, I think the enemy defense is crumbling and the combat units are melting away. We attack again today. The nice thing about Kusaie is that all of the support units are already there.

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10318 troops, 203 guns, 199 vehicles, Assault Value = 308

Defending force 8326 troops, 69 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 82

Allied adjusted assault: 107

Japanese adjusted defense: 111

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
960 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 18 (8 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
37th Infantry Division
767th Tank Battalion
5th US Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Base Maint Engineer Battalion
1/542nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
214th Coast AA Regiment
10th US Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
Guards Mixed Brigade
Sasebo 6th SNLF
48th JNAF AF Unit
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
7th Naval Construction Battalion
54th JNAF AF Unit

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1061

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/13/2019 2:22:11 PM

Bif1961

Posts: 2014
Joined: 6/26/2008
From: Phenix City, Alabama
Status: offline

You episode at Babar reminds me of the Tokyo Express that was made up of 11 transports and 4 escorting DDs command by Admiral Tanaka. After a day long series of air attack he had 7 sunk out right and the remaining 4 damaged, he decided to ram the four damaged merchant vessels ashore and let them offload and sink in place. Of the 7,000 troops in the convoy only 2,000 made it ashore without most of their heavier equipment and supplies. Unlike the Japanese, that was their last major attempt to get troops ashore, you plan on following up with more troops, equipment and supplies covered by carriers.

Sorry to see the Sam Adams went down with all the beer aboard.

< Message edited by Bif1961 -- 7/13/2019 2:23:11 PM >

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1062

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/14/2019 5:27:52 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

22 Feb 43

I don't know whether to wax poetic about losing Edgar Allen Poe, or drown my sorrows over the loss of Sam Adams.

US ships bombard Kusaie Island.

Night Naval bombardment of Kusaie Island at 125,118

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CA Louisville
CL Trenton
CL Detroit
DD Monaghan
DD Maury
DD McCall
DD Gridley

Japanese ground losses:
352 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 11
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 1

Dutch sub O19 hits small tanker TK Samui Maru with 3 torpedoes. One is a dud. The ship is empty but sinking audio heard immediately after combat.

Well north of Miri, Harder spots a convoy of huge tankers. 2 torpedoes are fired at San Ramon Maru but miss. It appears that the big tanker convoys from Singapore are still moving through the middle of the South China Sea.

Back at Kusaie Island, during the day, enemy ships appear.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Kusaie Island at 125,118, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
BB Hyuga
DD Akigumo
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze

Allied Ships
SC-751, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Koonda, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
xAKL Mortlake Bank, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
xAKL Mulcra, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
xAKL Noora, Shell hits 10, and is sunk

The cargo task force was unloading supply. There is no bombardment by the battleships after this, either by plan, timing, or by luck. The battleships stayed at Kusaie. Catalinas sortie from Nauru.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kusaie Island at 125,118

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 4

Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 7 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Hyuga, Torpedo hits 1
BB Yamashiro

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PBY-5 Catalina launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

US troops attack at Kusaie.

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10317 troops, 203 guns, 199 vehicles, Assault Value = 309

Defending force 6989 troops, 64 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 41

Allied adjusted assault: 95

Japanese adjusted defense: 23

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Kusaie Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1093 casualties reported
Squads: 44 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 51 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 21 (19 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Assaulting units:
37th Infantry Division
767th Tank Battalion
1/542nd Boat&Shore Engineer Battalion
214th Coast AA Regiment
5th US Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Base Maint Engineer Battalion
10th US Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
Guards Mixed Brigade
Sasebo 6th SNLF
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
7th Naval Construction Battalion
48th JNAF AF Unit
54th JNAF AF Unit

Finally! The second battle for Kusaie is essentially over. Troops will rest and wait for the enemy battleships to leave.

At Babar, some troops are still unloading from two burning and sinking transports. In the morning, 42 Oscars, probably from Koepang, sweep. 32 Wildcats are on ranged CAP from the southeast. The Oscars get the better of the Wildcats. 13 Bettys then arrive, escorted by 35 A6M5 Zeros. This time, the CAP gets past the escorts quickly, without engaging most of them. 10 Bettys are downed. 3 drop torpedoes but miss. 23 Lilys then appear, without escort. 37 Wildcats intercept, but the raid isn't spotted till late and no bombers are engaged, before or after bombing.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Babar at 76,117

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 23

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Takliwa, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Rufus King, Bomb hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
996 casualties reported
Squads: 32 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 85 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 19 (10 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (12 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Then 29 Sallys arrive at Babar, with no escort. This time, the Wildcats do engage, to some extent. 6 Sallys are downed. 25 Sallys drop bombs on the US troops on Babar.

I noticed at Babar that some xAKLs there that were unloading supply were now also unloading troops from Americal. I guess they plucked some men out of the sea, and are now landing them. I hadn't seen previously loaded ship do that before.

Near Prome, northwest of Rangoon, there's a stack of isolated enemy troops. Nothing substantial, but I sent a small unit to clean them up. Odds were terrible. Results were fine.

Ground combat at 54,50 (near Prome)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2176 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Defending force 3854 troops, 26 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Allied adjusted assault: 6

Japanese adjusted defense: 169

Allied assault odds: 1 to 28

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
71 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
503rd Parachute Regiment

Defending units:
211th Ship Eng Coy
311th Ship Eng Coy
18th JNAF AF Unit
15th JAAF AF Bn
32nd Special Base Force
204th Ship Eng Coy
3rd Air Div /1

On the day, air losses were 12 F4F-4s and 5 Catalinas versus 10 Bettys, 7 Oscars, 6 Sallys and 1 Zero.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to Bif1961)

Post #: 1063

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/14/2019 1:12:27 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

Nice to see Kusaie Island finally change hands again.
Good move having torpedo armed Cats standing by on naval attack - putting enemy BBs in the shipyard is second only to putting them under.

Glad to see your crippled BB is still afloat, but it is currently 5 hexes from that IJ sub and will be 4 hexes tomorrow. If that is a Glen sub your BB may get spotted. Can you do anything to suppress that sub?

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1064

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/14/2019 10:12:01 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

There's more than just one sub in the area, as today's map shows. I'm sure that I'm not seeing all of them.

23 Feb 43 - Part One - The Marshalls

DMS Southard is escorting 3 xAKs carrying the armor unit from Kwajalein. Southard sweeps some mines at adjacent Namu, but hits the last one. Southard returned to Kwajalein while the cargo ships diverted towards Nauru Island, and Southard dodged 4 torpedoes at Kwajalein from RO-67. I order the xAKs to Tarawa and hope for the best, with no escort.

Not in the Marshalls, but at Port Moresby, OPilot sent 27 Bettys on a night strike. A few planes were destroyed on the ground. I'd reply in kind with my own much bigger night strike, but my aircraft have more important things to do right now.

The four enemy battleships at Kusaie Island did bombard and left.

Night Naval bombardment of Kusaie Island at 125,118

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
DD Hagikaze
DD Arashi
DD Nowaki
DD Akigumo

Allied ground losses:
268 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 12
Port hits 1

B-24s continue to bomb Roi-Namur.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 1065

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/14/2019 10:25:16 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

23 Feb 43 - Part Two - Babar

Troops continue to unload, slowly, at Babar. The plan is to finish unloading, then split off some battleships from the carriers and bombard Babar, combined with a ground assault. Darwin is capable of rearming all of my ships.

I-122 hit xAKL Loa Koeloe with a torpedo at Babar. The ship had mostly supply, but had picked up a few support squads from a sinking transport. Which had picked up squads from another sinking transport. Maybe some of these squads got picked up today. Tough couple of days for those guys.

B-17s hit Babar. Did a fighter sweep of Koepang. 23 P-38Gs went up against 32 A6M5 Zeros and 37 Oscars. About 8 P-38s were lost, while about 4 Zeros and 12 Oscars were downed. I didn't check the numbers before this went to press.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1066

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 1:38:18 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

23 Feb 43 - Part Three - Burma

British cruisers bombarded Port Blair. 253 casualties, including 10 destroyed non-combat squads. We attack there today.

Corsairs swept Taung Gyi, finding no CAP. Now I see Oscars there. P-38s swept Rahaeng, finding no CAP.

Typical enemy bombing in China, especially up north by Ningsia. Changsha has been getting more attention, with enemy units now in town, coming in from the woods to the northeast. Chinese defenses are strong enough to hold in the urban terrain. I will try to spring a trap and move all four Chinese fighter squadrons from the capital to Changsha.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1067

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 1:50:19 AM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

Really like how you are poking holes in the Japanese perimeter in multiple places. Shows how hard it is for Japan to handle multiple fronts.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1068

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 2:21:40 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

Troops are completely prepped for Koepang, which was to follow taking Babar. But I've reconsidered. I had prepped a large force, including 4 artillery units, a Marine HQ, 2 armor units, combat engineers and the 3rd USMC Division. But I don't think that's enough infantry. It looks like a division plus of defense at Koepang. So I've postponed that for a bit, and have assigned the division that had gone to Buna from Port Moresby, and is now walking back to Port Moresby. It's about halfway from Kokoda to Port Moresby, but has a significant number of disabled squads. We'll wait a bit on Koepang.

The attention will be at Ponape for awhile. Ponape is only 10 hexes from Truk. The Bettys that will be coming from Truk will be escorted by Zeros. My covering force is the CVEs plus Yorktown plus Hermes. I don't know if the CAP will be strong enough. I want to start pounding Truk from Kusaie, using heavy bombers, but Kusaie is just a size 2 airfield and needs work. It could be argued that I should wait on Ponape, but we're going, using the good APs to land 2 divisions.

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 1069

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 3:20:14 AM

CaptBeefheart

Posts: 2301
Joined: 7/4/2003
From: Seoul, Korea
Status: offline

I just caught up after a two-week hiatus. Great job on the super BBs. I've never played as Japan, but those beasts seem more trouble than they're worth, what with the fuel consumption and difficulty in re-arming them.

Any idea where the KB is hanging out? That could make the Ponape invasion a bit problematic.

Cheers,
CB

_____________________________

Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1070

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 6:36:46 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

I lost track of KB awhile ago, when it went south after sending sweeps over Rangoon. It's been gone long enough to be just about anywhere. I did get a small detection level on a sub awhile back, in the middle of the South China Sea, which was an interesting place for that. There a chance that KB, or part of it, went back to Japan. Maybe for an upgrade. Maybe for action in the Aleutians. I've had SigInt for a long time about troops readying for Kiska and Attu and the dot base adjacent. It's still February, so winter, but in March, it won't be. I think it's unlikely, and wouldn't accomplish anything, in my opinion, but maybe the Japanese want to attack somewhere where they'd succeed.

But I think KB is out there. It could go after the big US carriers at Babar or the CVEs (an easier target) heading to Ponape. Of course, he doesn't know where the CVEs are, just that they were in the Marshalls a couple of weeks ago.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)

Post #: 1071

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 7:51:42 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

24 Feb 43

Herring fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Hagikaze near Ponape. They missed. This is the battleship task force retiring to Truk.

Ponape will be invaded. The plan for carrier support is altered.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1072

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/15/2019 8:11:25 PM

jwolf

Posts: 2493
Joined: 12/3/2013
Status: offline

It's nice to see that the New Mexico made it to safety. It will probably be out of action for 9 months or more but that is better than the alternative.

As for "rolling the dice a bit more than planned" that should be interesting to see and I am anxious to see the results. It's an aggressive move for this time in the war, IMHO. Good luck.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1073

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/16/2019 3:46:42 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

24 Feb 43 - Part Two - Babar

[EDIT: graphic should say xAPs, not Fast APs. The fast APs are in use at Ponape. Here, the regular xAPs are being used.]

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by apbarog -- 7/16/2019 3:47:55 AM >

(in reply to jwolf)

Post #: 1074

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/16/2019 6:18:59 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

First, something I forgot to mention in the Marshalls. The 3 xAKs running to Tarawa from Kwajalein without an escort were spotted by I-27. 2 torpedoes were fired at xAK Jefferson Myers but missed. No engagement on the surface. Lucky. The ships, loaded with an armor unit, made it safely to Tarawa.

24 Feb 43 - Part Three - Burma and China

British cruisers bombarded Port Blair. Bombers bombed. Troops attacked.

Ground combat at Port Blair (46,58)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 15175 troops, 262 guns, 120 vehicles, Assault Value = 377

Defending force 5585 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 115

Allied adjusted assault: 308

Japanese adjusted defense: 329

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
331 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
304 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
111th LRP Brigade
25th Australian Brigade
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
17th Australian Brigade
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
111th LRP Bde /2
276th Coastal Artillery Battalion
2/1st Lt AA Regiment
112th RN Base Force
111th RN Base Force
16th USN Special Construction Battalion

Defending units:
1st Raiding Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
303rd Ship Eng Coy
1st Base Force
302nd Ship Eng Coy
5th JAAF AF Coy

Troops will rest a day or two. Cruisers will continue to bombard. The enemy is taking lots of destroyed squads and devices now, so the base should fall soon, if not for the high disablements for the attackers. But I think we'll take the base soon.

I guessed right at Changsha. 7 P-43s and 18 P-66s intercepted 24 Lilys and 27 Oscars. 13 Lilys and 10 Oscars were shot down. 1 P-66 was lost. FO. A. Chong became the first Chinese ace of the war.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1075

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/17/2019 1:00:38 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

25 Feb 43 - Ponape

4 US cruisers and 4 destroyers go to Ponape and sink SC Ch 27. 8 other US ships bombard Ponape. It becomes obvious that the Ponape Naval Fortress is formidable.

Night Naval bombardment of Ponape at 119,113 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
J1N1-C Irving: 1 damaged
H6K4 Mavis: 1 damaged

127 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City
CA Louisville, Shell hits 2
CL Trenton, Shell hits 1
CL Detroit
DD Monaghan
DD Maury
DD McCall
DD Gridley

Japanese ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4

AP McCawley is slower than the other APs in this operation, moving 6 hexes a day instead of 8. I'd put McCawley in a separate task force, with a DMS, for the run into Ponape, so that I could put it at full speed and not have to use full speed on the many other ships. That part of the plan worked. The part about confronting big and many coastal guns did not.

Invasion Support action off Ponape (119,113)
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

35 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AP McCawley, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
DMS Zane

Allied ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

14cm 3YT CD Gun Battery engaging AP McCawley at 14,000 yards
DMS Zane firing to suppress enemy battery at 14,000 yards
12.7cm/50 T03 DP Battery engaging AP McCawley at 14,000 yards
DMS Zane firing to suppress enemy battery at 14,000 yards
14cm 3YT CD Gun Battery engaging AP McCawley at 14,000 yards
DMS Zane firing to suppress enemy battery at 14,000 yards
12.7cm/50 T03 DP Battery engaging AP McCawley at 14,000 yards

McCawley is SYS 59/FLOT 22-13/ENG 16-4/FIRE 56. The ship may burn up. All of the troops did unload, at least.

Southeast of Ponape, I-18 spots the slow US battleships.

Sub attack near Ponape at 121,116

Japanese Ships
SS I-18

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, Torpedo hits 1
BB California
DD Gillespie
DD MacDonough
DD Porter

SS I-18 launches 8 torpedoes at BB Mississippi

There was a dud torpedo hit also. Mississippi is SYS 3/FLOT 37-33/ENG 0/FIRE 0. It will stay with California and bombard, then head to Nauru.

In the morning, 36 Wildcats swept Truk, finding 36 A6M3a Zeros. Losses were heavy on both sides, and fairly even. 30 B-17s then bombed Ponape's airfield, finding 25 A6M3a Zeros. A couple of planes on both sides were lost. Minor damage to the airfield.

Carrier aircraft flew to Truk in the afternoon.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Truk at 112,108

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 26

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 21
SBD-3 Dauntless x 92
TBF-1 Avenger x 35

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 7 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed by flak
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 2
BB Ise
AO Ondo, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
AO Sata, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
YO J-3852
AO Shiriya, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 3
PB Fumi Maru
PB Myoken Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
AO Iro, Bomb hits 3, on fire
PB Shinkyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
BB Fuso
AO Notoro, Bomb hits 1, on fire
PB Kyo Maru #8, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Planes were lost, but not terribly. The bombers mostly ignored the battleships, finding the AOs to be juicier targets, and also paid more attention to patrol boats than I would have liked. No torpedo hits. Some planes were lost to flak. The AOs, unfortunately, had just unloaded their fuel, as confirmed in a conversation with OPilot. All would have been sunk if they had been loaded. Now many could survive at the big port. A good strike, I think. Results were unexpected. I hadn't seen AOs there. There are a lot of juicy targets disbanded in port, like AKEs and AS, but you can't go after everything.

Most important, the carriers were not engaged and will head away from Truk.

The main landing force then arrived, and the fortress got a bunch of hits.

Pre-Invasion action off Ponape (119,113) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

208 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CL Richmond, Shell hits 18, on fire
DD Dale, Shell hits 8, on fire
AP Arthur Middleton

Here's the order of battle at Ponape. We attack today, despite high fatigue.

Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3294 troops, 49 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 108

Defending force 15974 troops, 365 guns, 284 vehicles, Assault Value = 824

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
Yokosuka 6th SNLF
64th Naval Guard Unit
Ponape Naval Fortress
57th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
34th Cmbt Engr Rgt /1
110th Cmbt Engineer Battalion
27th Infantry Div /5
40th Infantry Div /3
763rd Tank Bn /1

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1076

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/17/2019 2:31:35 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

25 Feb 43 - Part Two - Babar

Allied big boys split off from the carriers and bombard Babar.

Night Naval bombardment of Babar at 76,117

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BB South Dakota
BB Washington
BB North Carolina
DD Nepal
DD Clark
DD Lamson
DD Cummings

Japanese ground losses:
509 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 14 (7 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

An xAKL task force continues to unload supply at Babar. AMc Bombo arrived to sweep all of the bombo's. Allied bombers hit Babar's airfield and troops. US troops attack.

Ground combat at Babar (76,117)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5285 troops, 88 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 299

Defending force 6291 troops, 49 guns, 28 vehicles, Assault Value = 89

Allied adjusted assault: 232

Japanese adjusted defense: 111

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
627 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
130 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
754th Tank Battalion
154th Field Artillery Battalion
97th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Engineer Co
16th Naval Guard Unit
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
44th Field Const Co
61st JNAF AF Unit
4th Field Construction Battalion
7th Port Unit
106th JAAF AF Bn

Good result. With almost continuous bombardments from Darwin possible, Babar will be taken. US troops are ordered to attack again.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1077

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/17/2019 5:43:20 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

25 Feb 43 - Part Three - Burma

TF 41 encounters mine field at Port Blair (46,58)

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuyuki, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

Fortunately, no task forces unloading at Port Blair when what appeared to be 8 destroyers arrived. Port Blair was bombarded by 3 British cruisers, though, immediately after the enemy mine hit. Leaves open the possibility that it wasn't a supply drop, and was just a raid looking for targets.

British roaming destroyers find a subchaser near Victoria Point and sink it.

Near Prome, a small Allied force is cleaning up a small isolated and out of supply enemy force.

Ground combat at 54,50 (near Prome)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2742 troops, 15 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 111

Defending force 3712 troops, 25 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Allied adjusted assault: 51

Japanese adjusted defense: 73

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
58 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
503rd Parachute Regiment
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion

Defending units:
18th JNAF AF Unit
311th Ship Eng Coy
204th Ship Eng Coy
211th Ship Eng Coy
15th JAAF AF Bn
32nd Special Base Force
3rd Air Div /1

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1078

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/17/2019 8:37:02 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

26 Feb 43 - Part One - Ponape

Ponape is bombarded, and the coastal guns there again get some hits.

Night Naval bombardment of Ponape at 119,113 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

116 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB California, Shell hits 2
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 1
DD Porter, Shell hits 2
DD Lang
DD Wilson
DD Gillespie, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Gillespie is SYS 54/FLOT 17-1/ENG 3-1/FIRE 1 and should survive.

US cruisers then bombard Ponape. Fewer coastal guns fire and all miss.

Night Naval bombardment of Ponape at 119,113 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-C Irving: 1 damaged
H6K4 Mavis: 1 damaged
A6M3a Zero: 1 damaged

77 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Chester
CA Northampton
CA Portland
CL Marblehead
CL Concord
DD Jarvis
DD Henley
DD Helm
DD Blue

Japanese ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 7 (3 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 6
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 3

Corsairs and Lightnings fly over Ponape but find no enemy aircraft. B-17s do almost no damage to the airfield and troops in severe storms. Carrier aircraft hit enemy troops on Ponape in the afternoon, but cause only 30 casualties in light cloud. 80 SBDs and 33 TBFs participated.

xAKLs land supply on Ponape, and take fire from the coastal guns. xAKL James Cook is hit by 3 14cm shells. Damage is SYS 27/FLOT 31-13/ENG 0/FIRE 58. Troops attack.

Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16006 troops, 365 guns, 284 vehicles, Assault Value = 828

Defending force 4469 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 106

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 562

Japanese adjusted defense: 33

Allied assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ponape !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H6K4 Mavis: 2 destroyed
A6M3a Zero: 11 destroyed
J1N1-C Irving: 1 destroyed

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1284 casualties reported
Squads: 26 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 30 (16 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Assaulting units:
34th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
27th Infantry Division
110th Cmbt Engineer Battalion
40th Infantry Division
763rd Tank Battalion

Defending units:
64th Naval Guard Unit
Yokosuka 6th SNLF
Ponape Naval Fortress
57th JNAF AF Unit

Things go much more smoothly when you bring a big enough hammer. Ponape will be the new point of focus for the enemy in the area, being just 10 hexes from Truk. Meanwhile, Kusaie Island will be off the hook, and once the enemy is cleared from the island, more support troops will be brought in, and the airfield will be expanded to the limit. Truk is in heavy bomber range from Kusaie. The days for Truk to be a safe haven for shipping are counting down.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1079

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 7/17/2019 10:34:36 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

26 Feb 43 - Part Two - Babar

Canberra and Hobart and escorts bombard Babar, doing minor base damage and causing 132 casualties. DMS and AMc continue to clear mines there. Weather prevents any bombing. US troops attack.

Ground combat at Babar (76,117)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5179 troops, 88 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 282

Defending force 5638 troops, 48 guns, 28 vehicles, Assault Value = 71

Allied adjusted assault: 103

Japanese adjusted defense: 29

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
311 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
192 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
754th Tank Battalion
154th Field Artillery Battalion
97th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
16th Naval Guard Unit
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Field Construction Battalion
44th Field Const Co
7th Port Unit
61st JNAF AF Unit
106th JAAF AF Bn

The base is getting close to falling. Fragments of units at Babar will be brought from Darwin after the base falls. Many support units will be coming also. The one thing the US does have in numbers, all over the map, is engineers. New bases can get a bunch of engineers now.

Some US carriers went to Darwin for fuel. The real reason they went there was to be seen, as Darwin gets recon every day. Now spotted, they'll leave and head to Townsville, where the SBD realignments will take place. The US ships needing refit are already headed out of the area, headed to Sydney. This includes 2 carriers and 3 fast battleships. 3 slow US battleships are near Townsville and will be heading to Darwin to support future operations.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 1080

Page: << < prev 34 35 [36] 37 38 next > >>

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)